Abstract
AlN thin films were synthesized using induction-coupled plasma (ICP) chemical vapor deposition process. The material characteristics, especially the surface morphology and the texture characteristic, for the AlN thin films were observed to vary with processing parameters markedly. Formation of (110) textured AlN thin films is facilitated when the growth rate is lowered by reducing the flow rate of Ar/NH 3 gases. The optical refractive index of the crystalline AlN thin films, (n) c = 1.8899-2.0294, is larger than that for amorphous ones (n) a = 1.7826. Moreover, the n-value for (110) textured AlN thin films is slightly larger than that for randomly oriented ones, which render that the textured and randomly oriented AlN thin films to be a good core/cladding materials system for a planar optical waveguides.